


We Didn’t Check if the Cat Belonged to Anyone

by chasingthebooty



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Almost smut?, Alternate Universe, Cats, College Student Eren Yeager, Eren brings home a cat, Established Relationship, Fluffy, Like right at the very end, M/M, that's pretty much it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 22:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3706101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasingthebooty/pseuds/chasingthebooty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He stops, just a foot away from the animal, and bright, golden eyes pierce into his, intimidating but round and beautiful. Eren reaches a hand out, and his fingers run through the soft fur of what can only be assumed is a kitten.<br/>A purr escapes its throat, and Eren grins. He can’t see it too well, but he just knows that the cat is absolutely adorable. He perches himself on his knees, butt held up by his ankles, and he holds out his other hand, inviting the kitten into his arms. The cat, wary, hesitates, but soon allows Eren to take it up and roll it onto its back, so that it’s paws are in the air as he holds onto it, both arms occupied by the tiny creature.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Didn’t Check if the Cat Belonged to Anyone

                Midnight arrives, the faint chirping of late night bugs being the only sounds about. Melting snow paints the sidewalk like an artist paints a canvas, and Eren decorates it with his hurried footprints.

                He dashes down the street, backpack slung over his shoulder. He’d stayed late, far too late, at his college, contributing his ideas and thoughts to a club dedicated to learning about the world and raising enough money to travel around it, and now it’s the dark hours of the night. He jumps whenever he hears so much as a squeak from a restless creature, the crunch of a dead leaf under him. He’s grateful for the few lights that are shining, illuminating the neighborhood just enough so that he doesn’t lose his way.

                Levi’s waiting for him at home, he knows it – Levi’s always promised never to fall asleep before Eren returns from school, he knows how much Eren hates it when he does. He knows how much Eren likes to sneak in a cuddle before bed, how much Eren likes to sit with Levi and chat as he eats his meals and downs his third cup of coffee.

                And Eren, he _does_ love it – it’s the thing urging him now, to run forward as fast as he can. That, and he doesn’t want to run into any murderers on the street.

                He turns a corner – just a few more houses until he’s home. He hears a faint clatter on the ground, and he knows he’s dropped a pen. He turns around, debating whether or not he should go and pick it up or just leave it. As he’s stopping, he feels something brush against the back of his ankle, and he trips over the fuzzy hazard and lands flat on his back, the contents of his backpack splattering across the ground and adding deathtraps to the snow.

                “What the-“ Eren mutters, looking around for what caused his fall. Through the dark, he sees a black outline, the outline of something small, hunched over, tail stuck straight out.

                He narrows his eyes, trying to decipher what the creature is. He slowly transitions onto his knees, crawling over at a gentle pace. He’s lucky to find that the creature doesn’t skitter away as he advances.

                He stops, just a foot away from the animal, and bright, golden eyes pierce into his, intimidating but round and beautiful. Eren reaches a hand out, and his fingers run through the soft fur of what can only be assumed is a kitten.

                A purr escapes its throat, and Eren grins. He can’t see it too well, but he just knows that the cat is absolutely adorable. He perches himself on his knees, butt held up by his ankles, and he holds out his other hand, inviting the kitten into his arms. The cat, wary, hesitates, but soon allows Eren to take it up and roll it onto its back, so that it’s paws are in the air as he holds onto it, both arms occupied by the tiny creature.

                Eren stands, attempting to collect his belongings using his feet, pushing them towards his backpack, only to instead gather up a bunch of loose dirt and snow. Eren sighs, deciding that it’s just not worth it – he can get new supplies, and notes can be gathered from his friends at school. A kitten like this, however, is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

                Eren walks away from the array of litter that he’s left, and he heads down the sidewalk once more, his house in sight. The kitten in his arms purrs, enjoying the uneven movements of Eren’s stride. Eren holds the cat close to his face, despite knowing how careless that is – he just wants the warmth of its dark fur to heat his frosty skin, the possibility of catching a disease be damned.

                He finally reaches his house, and he moves up the steps carefully, trying not to scare the kitten. As always, Levi’s left the front light on, brightening up the door and the welcome mat. Unable to shift his arms in order to dig out a pair of keys, Eren chooses to instead kick the door, unintentionally loudly, vying for Levi’s attention. He rams his foot against it several times, before nearly landing a hit to the raven-haired man’s crotch who opens the door for him.

                “What the actual fuck, Eren?” he groans, hand going up to rub his temple. He freezes when he sees the bundle in Eren’s arms.

                “I’ll tell you about it in a minute,” Eren says, “It’s cold as hell out here, can I come in?”

                “Not with that thing,” Levi scrunches his nose.

                “But Levi,” Eren moans, “It’s friendly.”

                “It’s also hairy,” Levi glares at the fiend, who stares up at him with glowing eyes.

                “Please?” Eren pleads. Levi shifts his eyes up to look at him.

                “No.”

                “Please.”

                “Not a chance.”

                “I live here too, you know,” Eren mutters, sending daggers at Levi.

                “I’m sorry,” Levi remarks, “But who pays the bills? Who’s paying for you to go to college? Who buys the food? Who-“

                “Okay,” Eren interrupts, “I get it. That’s not going to make me change my mind, though.”

                Levi mutters something about Eren being a stubborn brat, before trudging over to let Eren through the door. He saunters in, the cat in his arms letting out a victory cry. Levi immediately regrets his decision to let the two in.

                “Alright,” Levi says, deep voice lacking any sign of amusement, “What happened, why the hell don’t you have your shit from school, why are you late coming home, and why in the ever-living-fuck did you bring home a _cat_?”

                “That’s a lot of questions,” Eren murmurs, rubbing his index finger back and forth across the kitten’s belly, who squirms with delight.

                “Then start answering them.”

                “Fine, fine,” Eren lets out a halfhearted chuckle, “Um. Well. I kind of lost track of time, at school, we had a really long club meeting. Then I came home, and I sort of tripped over this guy here, dropped all my stuff, and here I am now.”

                “That’s the worst explanation for anything that I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Levi glares at Eren, eyes fluttering down to the cat every now and then.

                “It’s what happened though!”

                “I believe you,” Levi sighs, giving in. He watches as Eren continues to coddle the kitten, playing with its paws and rubbing his nose against its belly. He’d hate to admit it, but it’s pretty fucking cute.

                “So,” Eren says, flashing Levi his brightest smile, “Can we keep it?”

                “What?” Levi furrows his brows, “No fucking way.”

                “Why not?” Eren drawls, eyes showing unmistakable sadness.

                “It’s filthy, Eren, just look at it,” Levi motions his hand towards the dark lump in Eren’s arms.

                “No it’s not!” Eren defends, “Look, it’s clean,” he holds up his hand, which is covered in loose hairs. “I mean, it sheds a bit, but other than that,” he wipes his hand on the side of his leg.

                “No.”

                “Levi, please,” Eren begs, making a show of it by getting down on his knees, “Just do this one thing for me.”

                “One thing?” Levi looks down at him, “Need I remind you who-“

                “Okay, no,” Eren interrupts, “Compromise. We keep the kitty, I’ll clean the entire house, up and down, for two weeks.”

                “You also have to train the fucker,” Levi adds. He knows he shouldn’t be accepting Eren’s deal, but it’s late and he just wants to go to sleep.

                “Fine,” Eren says, dropping the cat on the floor, who lets out a reluctant mew. Eren goes over and wraps his arms around Levi’s waist, burying his face in his stomach, still on his knees from begging.

                “Can we just go upstairs?” Levi says, running a hand through Eren’s hair. Eren nods against his middle, and Levi has to drag him to their bedroom. The cat doesn’t follow them, choosing to instead roam around and knock over every single vase that it sees.

                                                                                                                       ~|~

                “Can we give it a name, now?” Eren asks hopefully, legs crossed, sitting up on his and Levi’s shared bed. The kitten skitters around the floor, playing with a shoe.

                “I suppose,” Levi says, folding Eren’s laundry. They’d only had the kitten for a few hours, now, and the thing had already shed enough fur to supply the clothing industry with materials for the next seventy years.

                “Any ideas?” Eren asks.

                “No.”

                “Are you just not even going to try?”

                “No,” Levi says, tossing a wrinkled shirt to the side, making a mental note to iron it later.

                “I’m thinking we name it Mr. Whiskers,” Eren rests his chin on his palm.

                “Not a chance,” Levi decides, “One, everybody uses that name. Two, is it even a boy?”

                “I don’t know,” Eren looks over at the kitten, “I didn’t actually check.”

                “Maybe you should, before you-“

                “Oh!” Eren exclaims, “I have an idea!”

                “What is it?” Levi peers up from the pile of clothing.

                “We could fuse our names together and make a name for it.”

                Levi blinks. It’s not a horrible idea, and Levi certainly has to give him creative points for coming up with it, but he doesn’t think their names are different enough to make a good tag when mixed together.

                “Um,” Eren says, thinking. “Ervi?”

                Levi shakes his head, “Far too similar to Erwin,” he mutters, remembering his coworker who bosses him around all day, his superior.

                “Maybe- Maybe Leren?”

                “That one sounds like an infection,” Levi remarks.

                “What about Levren?”

                “Literally all you did was add a letter to the last name you had,” Levi rolls his eyes.

                A moment passes before Eren snaps his fingers, “I’ve got it! We’ll name him Riren!”

                Levi thinks about this, “How the hell did you come up with that?”

                “My name is Eren, right, and your name is Levi, and if you-“

                “Never mind,” Levi stops him, “I don’t really care that much. If that’s what you want to name him, so be it.”

                Eren cheers, throwing himself on the floor to play with the newly-named Riren. Levi has to turn away to stop himself from revealing the smile forcing its way on his face.

                                                                                                                       ~|~

                “Coming through!” Eren announces, barging his way through the front door with a million bags around his arms.

                “I thought you were just buying cat food,” Levi says, grabbing some bags from Eren’s arms, which are red from carrying so much weight.

                “I was,” Eren says, setting down the other bags on the floor so that he can unpack them, “But then I saw this cute mouse toy, and I thought, well, Riren has to have something to play with besides our shoes, right? And then there was this box of cat treats, and the kitten on the cover of it has fur just like Riren’s, so I just had to buy it, and then-“

                “Alright,” Levi hushes him, “I get it. Just, remind me to never send you out shopping ever again.”

                “Aw, but Levi,” Eren moans, sitting down, tearing into a box and then tossing a fish-shaped treat to Riren, “Look how happy he is!”

                “He’d be just as happy with an old boot,” Levi says, sending a harsh look down to the golden-eyed kitten, who pounces around, playing with the treat Eren gave him. Eren scowls at Levi.

                “He would not,” he says, sullenly.

                Levi chooses not to argue with him, hating to see the depressing aura coating Eren’s eyes. He reaches down and rubs a hand through Eren’s hair, pecking his cheek with a kiss.

                                                                                                                       ~|~

                Riren settles into the household fairly easily – Eren provides him with litter boxes on every floor, which Riren goes out of his way to avoid, Eren cleans the loose furs off of all the furniture, which Riren happily jumps back on and rubs against as soon as all the fur’s gone, and Eren even buys him a bed, a little soft, round platform designed for kittens. Riren also makes it a point to sleep anywhere but there.

                Levi constantly makes remarks about how much work Riren is to take care of, and Eren always replies with a pouty lip and furrowed brows. It’s work, Levi knows it is, and he can tell it’s taking a toll on Eren – taking care of a cat, added on to having to scrub the house until it’s spotless, and frantically trying to get his college supplies ready, Levi finds himself wanting to alleviate the workload. He tries to help, subtly, by sending Eren off to bed several hours early and spending the extra time cleaning what Eren couldn’t get to. Levi hates seeing the bags under Eren’s eyes, and he despises the limp way that his lover slogs around the house, moving from one chore to the next.

                One week into their new life with Riren, Levi comes home with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. He hands them to Eren, who’s lying on his stomach, splayed across their living room couch, taking a break from his work. He questions Levi, who just shrugs it off with a, “You looked tired, so I thought I’d do something nice for you.” Eren doesn’t ask any further, choosing to instead dive into the chocolates like a starving beast.

                Riren hops on the couch, snuggling against Eren’s butt. Eren doesn’t even flinch, and Levi’s tempted to smack the kitten away, a flare of possessiveness rising in him. If he stuck _his_ face down there, Eren would probably kick him in the jaw and ask what he’s doing. But, oh no, _Riren_ gets to touch all over him, gets to put his pretty little cat nose where Levi’s been trying to get for several months now.

                “Eren,” Levi utters, looking at the boy, who’d just finished gulping down a piece of milk chocolate, not even bothering to chew it. “Maybe you should get back to work.” He hates saying it, but the fucking cat is giving him a smug look, as if he _knows_ that he’s got Eren whipped.

                Eren groans, tossing the box of half-eaten chocolates to the side. He complies, getting up, knocking Riren off his ass and dragging his feet as he moves towards the kitchen. Levi, feeling guilty, offers to help, to which Eren adamantly accepts, pulling Levi into a deadly hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

                                                                                                                       ~|~

                “I’m starting to think that you’re jealous of Riren,” Eren smirks, peering up at Levi from over the back of the couch. Riren’s sprawled out, belly taking up the entire arm of the couch, legs hanging off the sides. He’s napping, light purring filling the air. Despite calling Riren a male for several days now, they hadn’t actually settled the fact that he was so until mere hours ago.

                “Why would you think that?” Levi asks, holding a stack of bills in his arms.

                “You keep looking at him like you want to murder him.”

                “That’s not because I’m _jealous,_ ” Levi says, “It’s because I don’t like him.”

                Eren frowns at him, pretending to cover Riren’s ears, acting as if Riren would understand Levi even if he _could_ hear him. “I know he makes a mess sometimes, but he’s not a bad kitty. Especially for one that I picked up off the street.”

                Levi chooses not to argue with him, not wanting to brawl with him over the matter. He moves over to the couch, pushing Riren off the arm with a swipe of the papers he’s holding, and he takes his place next to Eren, propping his elbow where Riren once occupied.

                “Why did you do that?” Eren inquires.

                “Do what?”

                “Push Riren off the couch.”

                “He was in my spot,” Levi says, trying to look busy by flipping through the bills.

                “But you never sit there.”

                “That doesn’t mean that it can’t be my spot.”

                “See,” Eren says, crossing his arms, “You _are_ jealous.”

                “I’m not,” Levi says.

                “You are.”

                “Why would I be jealous of a cat?” Levi stops looking through the papers and sets them on a nearby table.

                “I don’t know,” Eren tries, and fails, to hide a smile, “You tell me.”

                Levi looks over at Eren, and his eyes are met with the sight of Eren covering his mouth with his hand, a huge grin decorating his face. His cheeks are a light red, his hair falling over his forehead in an unruly manner. His sleeves go past his fingers, and Levi suddenly has an urge to show Eren just why he shouldn’t be – _isn’t –_ jealous of a _cat._

                He reaches over and grips Eren’s hand, pulling it away from his mouth. He then shoves himself on top of the boy, pinning Eren to the couch, pressing him down with a knee to his thigh.

                “I- What are you-“ Eren’s interrupted by Levi’s tongue sliding into his mouth. He nibbles on Eren’s lips, using his tongue to discover the different areas of Eren’s mouth. He licks across the inside of his cheek, humming when Eren starts to play along, his own tongue wrestling with Levi’s.

                Levi reaches his free hand up and runs his fingers through Eren’s hair, tugging it back to expose Eren’s neck. He leaves Eren’s mouth, the boy left whimpering at the loss, and he goes down to suck little bites onto his neck.

                Eren, getting into it, wraps his arms around Levi’s neck, rubbing light circles over Levi’s shoulder blades. Levi moves his hands down to grope Eren’s ass, taking pleasure in the moans escaping the boy’s throat.

                Eren frantically removes his arms from around Levi and tries to unbutton his shirt, wiggling around as he tries to pull it off as fast as he can. Levi helps, and before they know it, they’re left in only their boxers, Levi moving his hands up and down Eren’s warm, tan skin, Eren pressing quick kisses to the skin that he can reach.

                Riren, noticing their actions, decides to venture over and find out what’s going on. He jumps onto the couch, squeezing himself between Levi and Eren. The two men stop, peering down at the kitten.

                “Aha,” Eren laughs, “Isn’t he-“

                Levi shoves Riren onto the floor, putting his hands back on Eren to resume where they’d left off before they’d been so rudely interrupted. Riren hisses, golden eyes dark with anger. He marches away, however, going to go play with one of the many toys that Eren bought him.

                “That cat,” Levi says between bites to Eren’s neck, “He really loves you.”

                “You think so?” Eren gasps, bucking his hips up to create friction against Levi’s erection.

                “Very much so,” Levi breathes, “Too much so. I still think we should get rid of him.”

                “See,” Eren chuckles, “You _are_ jealous.”

                “Just a little.”

               

 

**Author's Note:**

> So this is just the result of me being on my spring break and not having much to do. I don't even know.


End file.
